================================ =====Rockman X5 Walkthrough===== ============Ver. 1.6============ ============12/24/00============ ================================ by Reeve : http://www.megaman-x.com/ : reeve@megaman-x.com ====== Index: ====== 1. Introduction 2. Controls 3. Boss Weaknesses 4. Recommended Boss Order 5. Power-up Locations 6. Armor Descriptions 7. Power-up Modules 8. General pointers 9. Level Guides a) Opening Stage b) Military Train c) Underwater Attack d) Jetbike/Switches e) Castle Invasion f) Space Encounter g) Mid-air Battle h) Lava Pit i) Deadly Plants j) Dynamo Encounters k) Final Stage 1 l) Final Stage 2 m) Final Stage 3 n) Final Stage 4 10. Character Bios 11. Secrets/Codes 12. Rumors/Questions in Need of Confirmation/Answers 13. New In This Version 14. Legal Jargon ================ 1. Introduction: ================ Capcom has finally unleashed its latest Rockman game on the Japanese market, and it's slated for a US release in January of 2001. For those of us fortunate enough to import it, we get to play a month or so early. But everyone needs a leg up every once in a while. If you're an importer who needs a little assistance, this walkthrough is for you. The names of bosses and weapons contained in this walkthrough are temporary, and used for lack of direct and official translations. I plan to update frequently, and release a more complete game guide when it comes out in America in January. Enjoy the game. ============ 2. Controls: ============ For this section I'm going to assume you know the basic controls. If not, they're pretty simple and don't require too much knowledge. Some more advanced techniques such as dash-jumping might be added to the walkthrough later. ===================== 3. Bosses Weaknesses: ===================== Crescent Grizzly - Weak to Spike Rose's weapon Tidal Whale - Weak to Crescent Grizzly's weapon Bolt Kracken - Weak to Tidal Whale's weapon Shining Firefly - Weak to Bolt Kracken's weapon Dark NecroBat - Weak to Shining Firefly's weapon Spiral Pegasus - Weak(?) to Dark NecroBat's weapon Burn T-rex - Weak to Spiral Pegasus' weapon Spike Rose - Weak to Burn T-rex's weapon ======================== 4. Recommend Boss Order: ======================== Grizzly - Whale - Kracken - Firefly - NecroBat - Pegasus - T-rex - Rose ====================== 5. Power-up Locations: ====================== Heart Tanks - (increases life gauge) There are Heart Tanks in each of the 8 Maverick Boss stages. Those are covered in the individual Level Guides below. Armor Capsules - (gives X more powers) Like Heart Tanks, there's one in every stage. These also are covered in the individual level guides below. Sub-Tank 1 - (back-up life energy) In Crescent Grizzly's stage. On one of the last trains, it's lying out in the open right at the front of the train. Jump onto it to nab it and then jump off the train before it explodes. Sub-Tank 2 - (back-up life energy) In Dark NecroBat's stage, just after the floating platforms area, right before the scene shifts to the next part of the stage, it's on a high platform. You'll need either Zero's double-jump from Crescent Grizzly or X's Falcon armor to get to it. Weapon Tank - (back-up weapon energy) In Spiral Pegasus' stage, during the down-elevator part. After it's crashed through two of the floors, jump off the elevator and grab the Weapon Tank from below before it crushes you. Ex-Tank - (more lives given at start of levels) In Shining Firefly's stage, the Ex-Tank is very visible, protected by a wooden plank and right next to a yellow hostage. Use Burn T-Rex's weapon to destroy the plank and then jump up to get the Ex-Tank. ====================== 6. Armor Descriptions: ====================== X (Blue): X's basic armor. No special powers. Much weaker than all of X's other armors. Charged Shot: Larger more powerful Buster shot. Strike: None. Sp.Weapons: Normal. X (Nova): The Nova armor from X4. If you start the game with X you get it automatically. Otherwise it's impossible to get. Gives you the power to hover, air-dash, and plasma shot, but the Nova Strike and infinite weapon energy capabilities from MMX4 are missing. Hover: Press the jump button while already jumping to hover. Use the directional buttons to move back and forth. Cannot be used in conjunction with dash-jump or air-dash. Charged Shot: Large Plasma shot. Can stay on an enemy for a few seconds doing damage. Strike: None. Sp.Weapons: Can be charged for a more powerful effect. X (Falcon): Brand new armor. Very light and nimble. Pressing the jump button in the air lets X fly for a short time. The powered shot is a small but powerful laser. No air-dash ability, but makes X generally faster. You can use boss weapons while in it, but can't power them up like you could with the Nova armor. Nova Strike replaced with Falcon Strike ability. Fly: Press the jump button while already jumping to fly. Use the directional buttons to move around in the air. Cannot be used in conjunction with dash-jump or air-dash. Charged Shot: A piercing laser shot. Strike: Laser beams pierce the entire screen destroying some enemies. Sp.Weapons: Normal. X (Gaia): Also new armor. It's basically the opposite of Falcon, in that it makes X slower. It, however, also does not have an air-dash. Clinging to the wall lets you stick there instead of sliding off. X can also walk on spikes without any damage coming to him, and his powered shot is much more powerful than the Nova. Unfortunately, it's impossible to use boss weapons in the armor, and it makes X more sluggish. Nova Strike replaced with the Gaia Strike ability. Spikes: Can walk on/cling to spikes with no damage done. Wall-cling: Stays clung to wall instead of sliding down. Dash-Push: Dash is slower, but can push V blocks to different locations. Charged Shot: Very powerful, very little charge-time. Can destroy V blocks. Strike: Fairly large ball of energy directly in front of X. Sp.Weapons: None. X (Ultimate): This is a hidden armor, both ways you could possibly get it. So far it seems to me to have the same abilities as the Ultimate Armor from X4, in that it's exactly like the Nova Strike armor, only allowable to do the Nova Strike infinite times. Of course, in this game the Nova Strike armor doesn't allow X to do the Nova Strike at all, but the Ultimate Armor still does allow him to do it infinite times. Hover: Press the jump button while already jumping to hover. Use the directional buttons to move back and forth. Cannot be used in conjunction with dash-jump or air-dash. Charged Shot: Large Plasma shot. Can stay on an enemy for a few seconds doing damage. Strike: Dashes straight forward for a great deal of damage and invincibility for a short period of time. Can be used infinite times. Sp.Weapons: Can be charged for a more powerful effect. Zero (Red): Zero's basic armor. Like X's blue, it has no real powers that set it apart. Zero (Black): Zero takes half the damage he would take otherwise, and the sabre included with the black armor can cut through some enemy projectiles and destroy the Sigma Virus. Note: X gets to choose which armor he takes into battle with him, but Zero's Black armor is a replacement armor. Therefore, you do not get to choose Red or Black at the beginning of each stage. ==================== 7. Power-up Modules: ==================== You may have noticed, as I have, some extra items collected in stages. As of yet, I've not seen any clear-cut explanation of how these items come about, or what triggers them. What we do know, however, are what these special little items do. These are "modules." They can be equipped to each of the different armors, including Zero's, by pressing the L1 button in the Stage Select screen and equipping on each of them. Each armor has it's own set of to be equipped, and only a certain amount can be equipped to each set of armor. Blue X and Red Zero, and Black Zero can have up to four equipped to them. Nova, Falcon, and Ultimate armor X all have up to two. Gaia X has no room for any modules. There are sixteen modules. The ones that only X can use have a small "X" in the upper left-hand corner. The ones that only Zero can use have a "Z" in the upper left-hand corner. All others can be used by both. Below is a listing of those I know so far, with the corresponding graph of how they'd look on the selection screen. ------------- |01|02|03|04| |05|06|07|08| This is pretty much what the selection would look |09|10|11|12| like, with pictures instead of numbers. |13|14|15|16| ------------- Modules: (Thanks John Peasley [firehawke@yahoo.com] for this info) 01 - Speed up 02 - High jump 03 - Speed dash 04 - Halves weapon energy usage 05 - Items are more effective 06 - Halves damage from viruses 07 - Increases the power of non-charged Buster shots 08 - Increases the speed of non-charged Buster shots 09 - Half damage 10 - Can destroy viruses (?) X 11 - Five Buster shots instead of three can be shot at a time X 12 - Buster is always charged. Longer pauses taken between shots X 13 - Charging Buster takes half the time Z 14 - Increases Sabre damage Z 15 - Increases Sabre range 16 - Still uncertain ==================== 8. General pointers: ==================== - To get the best ending possible, don't ever go into a level and then ditch it when you have the count-down from 15. Going into a level and leaving it to choose another one wastes one of those, but continuing the level until you beat it doesn't. Just save between each level and if you change your mind, turn the game off and turn it back on. This will allow you to choose another level without wasting one of your time units. - As X, avoid the viruses. The second virus incarnation is twice as powerful, and keep that in mind. If you're struck with the virus after being put in "Danger" status, your life will be depleted quickly and you'll probably die. - As Zero, however, the viruses are helpful. Getting all the way to "Virus" status restores him to full life and makes him invincible for a few seconds while he's glowing pink. ================ 9. Level Guides: ================ 9a. Opening Stage - Boss: Sigma Head ==================================== This is simple enough, especially if you have a basic grasp of X games. There are only two new commands that you might have to know for this level. Make sure you duck by pressing down when the ceiling falls inside the crumbling building, and make sure you grab onto the wire by pressing up when you're near it, so you won't fall down the pit. You can also avoid falling down the pit by Air-dashing or dash-jumping. Make sure that when climbing up the walls at the end of the level, you climb the right wall, then the left, then the right. This will help you avoid getting crushed in them. Boss Battle: Sigma's Head is considerably harder than most opening stage bosses in MMX games, but that's not saying much. No matter who you are, X or Zero, staying to the left wall is the best strategy. Duck when he fires his giant purple beam or the little blue balls, and wait for a good time to strike. If he simply stays, it means he'll fire larger yellow balls. Stand your ground, and climb the left wall just as the yellow balls begin to move. This should help you avoid being hit at all. 9b. Crescent Grizzly Stage - Military Train =========================================== The military train area isn't too hectic. As X, you'll have to get down on a platform below the front of the train to hit the blue spot and destroy each train head, but as Zero you can slash at it from above if you want. Make sure you duck when the blue spot is firing, or it could knock you off. When a timer is counting down, dash and dash-jump your way off the train before it blows. Before long, you'll find yourself on the ground after a train wreck. From this point, it's only a small distance before you reach the boss. Heart Tank - After blowing up a few trains, you'll be inside a train car. In the middle there will be a divide that if you climb up, there will be a ceiling full of spikes. Use X's Gaia armor to get to the Heart Tank, which is on the left side. It's also concievable that you could get to it with your Falcon armor, but you'd probably have to sacrifice a life for it. Armor Capsule - When just entering the cave after the train wreck, you'll see an alchove at the top. Get on the lower wall and dash-jump up to the wall above, or use Zero's double-jump to get into the alchove where the Capsule will be waiting. Boss Battle: Crescent Grizzly isn't that tough, and is a good starting point as far as bosses go. Whether or not you have Spike Rose's weapon, he shouldn't be that hard. Simply attack him. If you get hit a couple of times with his attacks, it's no big deal. Just keep powering up your Buster and shooting or slashing at him. He doesn't use his attack nearly as often as you can optimally use yours. When he burrows underground dash-jump from side to side on the higher ground level, and be prepared for him to appear nearby. When he does, attack him quickly and keep dashing. Continue this strategy until he's gone. 9c. Tidal Whale Stage - Underwater Attack ========================================= This stage is mostly a battle with a huge fish sub. At first you'll be dueling with just the head. Disarm the missiles by destroying the yellow-orange spots on it's face. These will regrow, but keep destroying them and doing damage afterwards to the face itself, and it will be damaged enough to be unable to grow new parts. Once a mouth laser is produced, either climb a nearby alchove or duck in a ditch, because you'll otherwise get dealt some serious damage. Once you get to a certain point, a life bar will appear. Aim for the mouth to do damage to the fish sub. Next is the battle with the tail, which is basically like the head. Follow the same basic strategies. Then comes the top of the body. Only by fully charging your X-Buster, or swiping your sword downward, can you do damage to the missile launchers here. Keep dodging and destroying them, and get out of the way of the rocks the sub is leading you into. When you get to a certain point, it will occasionally expose its weak spot. Destroy it, like with the head, and the sub will fall for good. Heart Tank - In the large pit with spikes surrounding both sides, the ceiling is open. Use the Gaia armor or the Falcon armor to make your way up there, and then use the armor similarly to navigate through the spikes. You'll eventually find your way to the Heart Tank. Armor Capsule - After the water drops and you go through the planked area, you'll drop down to an area that has a capsule in plain view with a plank blocking it, and a mine nearby. Use a powered-up Tidal Whale weapon to set off the mine and destroy the plank. Boss Battle: Tidal Whale is very easy with the Crescent Grizzly weapon, but not so easy if you're using the X-Buster or just slashing with the Z-Sabre. Make sure you have the Crescent weapon and just let him have it. Barrage him with the weapon, and watch out for when he tries to push you against the spikes. He'll fall in no time. 9d. Bolt Kraken Stage - Jetbike/Switches ======================================== The first area here is perhaps one of the most frustrating in the game. The jetbike section of the level is pretty hard. Unfortunately, talking about it would do no good. I can't say anything here that would help you get past that part except that all you really need is practice. Also, the end is a pain, but you really simply have to dash twice on the jetbike in a row. The only problem is it's hard to get the timing right. Once again, practice makes perfect. Next comes the switches section. Using X, have his Nova Armor at the ready. The plasma shot makes this part fairly easy. If you're using Zero, his Crescent spin will reduce headaches. Just destroy the enemies around, and then concentrate on the switches. This will lead directly to the boss. Heart Tank - In the switches area, you'll find a path that you can go left or right. The right path leads to the boss, but if you choose to go left first, and have X with his Gaia armor, you can shoot the switch and work your way into a room with spikes on the ground. Stand on the spikes and power up your Buster. Shooting the V blocks will destroy them. Then shoot the other switch to open the way to the Heart Tank. Armor Capsule - During the jetbike section, there will be blue balls of light floating around. Collecting all eight will expose an opening once you get off the jetbike, inside of which will be the Capsule. Getting all eight takes a lot of practice, though, so be prepared for some frustration. Boss Battle: Bolt Kraken isn't that hard, with or without the Tidal weapon. Make sure you're ready to cling to walls to avoid his attack that covers the entire ground, and fire at him non-stop. His attacks are pretty predictable, so staying in the right areas will save you from most damage. Stay on the wall, but don't stay directly in front of Bolt Kraken unless you need to fire at him. 9e. Shining Firefly Stage - Castle Invasion =========================================== This stage starts off simple enough. Just blast the enemies like you would anywhere else. To save the yellow hostage in the plank above, use Burn T-rex's weapon, then navigate through the spikes. The spikes in this level aren't that hard to avoid, but can do some serious damage if you slip up. Proceed with caution. Next you'll find yourself on a staircase. Just blast away the enemies and avoid the Sigma Viruses, and you'll find yourself at a mini-boss. Charge your weapon and aim for the red eye of the black robot. It'll be destroyed, and then you have to avoid the lasers of the other two robots. The black one will be back next time for you to destroy again and again, until the whole mechanism is destroyed. Next you'll find yourself in another straight-forward area with several green wall robots firing off large red balls. These red balls are easy to avoid, but you can destroy them with the Crescent weapon if you're bored or just feel like it. Keep along this path to find your way to the boss. Heart Tank - The Heart Tank for this stage is right at the beginning. Equip X with the Gaia armor and fall down in the pit below the bridge that you extended. Veer right and the Heart Tank is right there. You can also fly over the spikes to it using the Falcon armor, but it's harder to do without wasting a life. Armor Capsule - After you climb a few of the ramps, one of the green wall robots firing red balls will be out of your view, right above you. Jump up to be able to see it and destroy it with the Crescent weapon to open up the path to the capsule. Boss Battle: Shining Firefly is quick, but not tough. If you're using the Bolt Kraken weapon, just stay below him and use when he's above you (in range). If using the X-Buster or Z-Sabre, just fire at him whenever you get a chance and dodge his attacks. Be warned if you're using either of those, though; he gets awefully fast near the end of his life, and using the Bolt weapon is much more effective to make him the quick and the dead. 9f. Dark NecroBat Stage - Space Encounter ========================================= The opening of this stage is in outer space, where everything moves pretty slow. No big harm, though. Other than the slow-motion and the occassional bat problem, this part has nothing that differs from any other shoot-the-badguys strategy. Next you'll find yourself indoors, but again there's no huge threat here. The floor will become the ceiling and vice-versa when you go into certain switches, but this is really for your own good rather than a threat. Avoid the spikes, of course. The real fun is if you come here wearing Gaia armor, and the threat of the spikes is removed, so there's virtually no threat at all. Navigate through the spikes and making sure the blocks don't fall on you, and you'll be at the boss in no time. Heart Tank - The Heart Tank is in plain view, and hard to not see in this level. But you need the Gaia armor to get to it. Switch the ground/ceiling so that the Heart Tank is accessible, and then just go to it with the Gaia armor on. No problem. Armor Capsule - Just before you reach the boss, there will be a pit. Drop down into it (careful not to hit the spikes on the left side, stay to your right). There will be a Capsule behind a tangled web of metal. Use Shining Firefly's missile and navigate it through the maze to hit the switch that will open the path to the Capsule. This can be tricky and frustrating, but if you run out of energy you can kill yourself on the spikes and get all your weapon energy back, and if you need to continue, the starting point is right in front of the pit. It may take multiple tries. Boss Battle: You need to make sure to cling to the walls a lot with Dark NecroBat. If you're using his weakness, Shining Firefly's weapon, stay on the ground and fire when necessary. Otherwise, stay near the walls and be ready to dash-jump off of them if he gets ready to freeze time. Other than that, he's not too hard. 9g. Spiral Pegasus Stage - Mid-Air Battle ========================================= Your first job in this level is to disarm the bombs that are counting down, guarded by robots. The last one is the trickiest, but you should be able to get to most of them with no problem. Missing one or two doesn't have any dire consequences, as long as you keep your life above half so the explosion doesn't kill you. There are also several yellow hostages in need of your aid, but they're out in the open and don't require any special strategy. Once out of the bomb-ridden area, you'll be going down an elevator. No real problems should arise here. There will be enemies every once in a while, but a simple blast or sabre slash should take care of them. After this comes an escalator area. Climb onto the escalator and then drop to the right side and cling to the wall until you safely pass under the spikes. Next comes another escalator with several alchoves that have bombs, enemies, and yellow hostages. Rescue the hostages, kill the enemies, and try to destroy the bombs. Next, you'll find yourself at the boss. Heart Tank - At the second elevator area, one of the alchoves with yellow hostages also has a Heart Tank behind a bomb. Whether you destroy the bomb or not, the Heart Tank remains, so it's not hard to find. Armor Capsule - Bring X and equip the Falcon armor. At the escalator area, jump and fly up and to the left as soon as you see the first spikes. This will lead you to a platform with the armor Capsule. Boss Battle: Oh, how much this battle reminds me of Storm Eagle from Mega Man X1. Anyway, all you really need for this battle is the ability to dash-jump and a good weapon by your side. Pegasus doesn't seem to have much of a weakness towards anything, but Dark NecroBat's ability does stop him in his tracks for a few seconds, allowing you to get a few hits in. Other than that, it's just a straight out battle. Dash-jump over him when he charges at you, and dash back and forth when he goes into the air to charge you. Zero is really best for this battle since he can inflict more damage while Pegasus is frozen than Zero can. Keep up that strategy and he should go down. 9h. Burn T-Rex Stage - Lava Pit =============================== The opening of this stage is simple to get through. Just dash a lot to avoid all the fire-breathing dragon head robots, and kill the enemies as fast as possible. Even if you don't kill them, avoiding them quickly is the best method to get through quickly. Next, you'll be over some rushing lava. Wait for it to stop coming and instantly drop. Then dash and dash-jump as fast as you can to an area that the background is black instead of red. Cling to the wall there and you'll be safe from the next rushing lava. Keep doing this, heading as fast as you can for an area with a black background, until you're out of the rushing lava pit. Next you'll find a large lava pit. There are two paths. You can get into the riding armor and go under the lava, or you can stay above it and do battle with a fire dragon. It's up to you. Neither is all that hard. After conquering one of these two obstacles, you'll find the boss. Heart Tank - In the large rushing lava area, wait for the lava to just have stopped coming, drop and rush to the left. Drop down the pit and you'll find a Heart Tank waiting for you, along with a life. Armor Capsule - In the large lava pit, get into the red riding armor and go into the lava. Make your way through it until the end, and then carefully jump out of the armor and on to dry land. The Armor Capsule is there waiting for you. Boss Battle: Burn T-Rex is one of the harder bosses in the game, but as long as you have the Spiral weapon from Pegasus, he's not that hard. Use it, and take advantage of the time that he's floating in the air to cling to the very top of a wall. This will avoid 90% of his attacks completely. The 10% that will hit won't take off enough to really kill you before you can kill him. From the wall, air-dash off the wall to go over him and use the weapon again. It's a pretty simple pattern. 9i. Spike Rose Stage - Deadly Plants ==================================== This stage is pretty straight-forward. The only areas that might present problems are the two wire areas. One has spikes on the sides, and one has a pit on the bottom. Navigate carefully through these, and destroy enemies as you go along Heart Tank - Right when you get into the cave, just before you climb the vines that have the spikes on the sides, there are some V blocks. Destroy them with your Gaia armor, and keep going along the path until you find a cliff. At this point, dash into some of the V blocks laying around, and push one of them to the edge of the cliff. Stand on top of the V block and dash-jump from it to the ledge carrying the Heart Tank. (Credit given to: Gundam Zero X) Armor Capsule - In the second wire area there will be an alchove at the top with spikes surrounding it. Use X's Falcon armor to fly into the alchove to find the Capsule. Boss Battle: Spike Rose is easy. Just use Burn T-Rex's weapon and allow him to jump over you, then use it again. By the time you come to this stage you should have the weapon, but if you don't, he's still not all that hard. Just attack him like normal, and avoid his attacks by clinging to the walls. Don't be fooled by his alternate self. Just keep your eye on him and keep firing. 9j. Dynamo Encounters ===================== You'll face Dynamo twice during the game. Once after you've beaten two of the Maverick bosses, and again once you've beaten six of the Mavericks. X Strategy: Dynamo isn't too hard with X. Using the Nova or Ultimate armor, keep charging your Buster and letting him have it. Jump over his spinning boomerang, and then duck to avoid it coming back (or vice-versa if he does it in that fashion). The second time you face him he'll use an air-slash attack when he jumps over you, and will sometimes pause in mid-air to release blue energy beams. These are both easy to dodge. Simply to not attack him from the air when he jumps over you to avoid the air-slash, and get between the blue energy beams. Rather simple, really. Zero Strategy: For however easy Dynamo is with X, he's ten times easier with Zero, as long as you have the Crescent Grizzly weapon. Keep using Crescent Slash on Dynamo and he'll fall easily. Dodge his attacks in the same way you would with X, but keep slashing. You should be able to take him out quickly. See if you can take him out in under 10 seconds without taking any damage. 9k. Final Stage 1 - Boss: Shadow Devil ====================================== The biggest, and practically only real threat in this stage are the lasers. They kill you one hit and irritatingly fill the entire screen sometimes. This is where a very important creedo comes in: There's no shame in using Dark NecroBat's weapon to stop time. This will make things immensely easier. Pick up the weapon power that's lying around, and try to make sure you have a full Weapons Tank to refill when there isn't any weapon power around. Before long, you'll find yourself at the boss. Boss Battle: Shadow Devil can be pretty tough. As X, Bolt Kraken's weapon works, but your X-Buster works better. It's larger anyway. As Zero, good ol' fashioned sabre swiping works best, and even beats the Shadow Devil faster than X could. The only time he's weak is when his red eye is open. Aim for that eye. Jump and duck to avoid the parts going from one side of the room to the other, and make sure you can always see the parts that haven't yet moved so you can be prepared. It's easiest to avoid his attacks when he forms into the Wily Skull Tank. Just get on the wall and air-dash off of it before it hits, then repeat for the other side. Also, dash under it when it's "jumping" around. Eventually it will get back into the form with the red eye so you can deal more damage. The toughest attack to dodge is when half of it's body is on each side and it fires from both sides. Thusfar, I haven't found a very effective way to dodge this attack, but your life should be high enough from effectively dodging the other attacks that you can sustain a few hits from that one. 9l. Final Stage 2 - Boss: Ramda Bamda ===================================== This stage is pretty straight forward, and all you really have to do is destroy enemies as usual. However, the enemies usually have the tactical advantage, and you have to find ways to overcome this. Having Zero infected with the Virus is a great way to restore your life bar, and don't be afraid to use your special weapons. After a lot of enemies and a lot of spikes, you'll find your way to the boss. Boss Battle: Ramda Bamda makes his second appearance in an X game with this, but this is somewhat different from the first time. Using Zero, the Crescent slash is your best weapon, both offensively and defensively. Using X, however, each individual part has its own weakness. The red eye doesn't like the Spiral weapon. The Blue eye falls to the Burn weapon. The Green is weak to the Crescent weapon, and the fire-like image inside the wall is weak to the Tidal weapon. 9m. Final Stage 3 - Boss: Zero/X ================================ This stage is pretty short, and the main danger is in the spikes. Air-dashing is a must here. Don't be too afraid to run into enemies on the wire area. It's long, but you should have enough life to withstand the attacks. Before long, you'll find your way to the boss, one of the biggest and coolest plot twists in the series' history... Armor Capsule - The real point of interest here, besides the plot twist, is the special 9th Capsule. There's a small pit with a floating platform at the left side. The platform isn't even necessary, making this pit stand out. Cling to the right wall and slide down. You'll go directly into a hidden wall. Coming as Zero will get you the special Black armor. Coming as X (only available in his blue basic armor), you'll get the Ultimate Armor. **Special Note: Yes, you can get both! If you come as one and then die and restart the level with the other, you can get both sets of armor, Ultimate for X, and Black for Zero. Boss Battle: If you're X, you'll fight Zero. If you're Zero, you'll fight X. As X, just keep near the walls and make sure you charge up your Buster often. Zero's most dangerous attack is one that covers most of the screen, with small gaps between each blue pillar of light. It's hard to dodge, but not impossible. X poses a much different danger. He can change his color and use attacks from Mega Man X4 (or Rockman, for purists). These don't pose too much of a danger. Slash at him like crazy as Zero, and use your Crescent slash often. Zero is much harder than X, honestly, but the result is the same. 9n. Final Stage 4 - Boss: Sigma =============================== This level is very straight-forward, and shouldn't present any problems. You'll find yourself at eight capsules, the obligatory repeat of the eight bosses you've already faced. Employ the same strategies as before, but conserve your life so you can refill it completely with the two energy capsules nearby. After this and a few more minor obstacles, you'll find yourself at the boss, which is two-fold. Boss Battle: Are you actually surprised that Sigma is the final boss? If you answered "yes," your award for "Most Gullible Person In The World" is in the mail. Anyway, the battle is composed of two forms. -------- Form #1: This battle resembles your first battle ever with Sigma if you've played the entire series, except this time he doesn't have a beam sabre. He jumps from wall to wall, but is easy to avoid. Either stay on the wall above him or duck near the corner of the room. Stay on the walls when he's firing off his electric shocks. It's somewhat hard to get a slash or a shot off at him, but take advantage of the opportunities when you can. You need to conserve your life for his second form. Surviving this battle with all of your life in tact is difficult, but definately worth it. Oddly enough, Sigma is weak to Bolt Kraken's electric attack even though he's firing off shocks himself. With X it's pretty easy to hit him, especially since the shots go up and down too. Zero's Bolt attack is much harder to hit him with, but if you can get the knack for it it's convenient. Otherwise just slash when you get the chance. If he disappears all of a sudden, he'll appear on the right side of the screen. He'll fire a few of three large shots; high, low, and both. He usually does them in this order, but not always, so be nimble at the fingers. When he fires high, duck. When he fires low, get high to the wall clinging, and when he fires on both, air-dash between them if you're on the ground. If you're clinging to the wall, simply slide down and you'll go right between them. Once this form is defeated, you meet the real difficulty. -------- Form #2: Sigma's second form is tough, and you need to be prepared. His weakness is Spike Rose's weapon, for both X and Zero. Both have about the same range, but Zero's weapon is more awkward to use as far as pressing the buttons on the controller goes. Either way, the red spot on the giant face's forehead is the weak spot, and needs to be hit by the Rose weapon. Climb on the hands and from there make your way onto the wall. You can air-dash from there towards him to use your weapon, or jump from on top of his hands. Staying on the hands is dangerous, though, since it makes it harder to dodge being crushed when the hands move. If you get caught up in any of the hand movements, it takes off quite a bit of life. Sometimes his hands will disappear, meaning he's about to do one of two attacks. One is to fire off four large balls of energy that will move to the bottom of the screen, and then move towards you. Cling to the wall and then dash to dodge these. If you're clinging to the right wall, this is a perfect opportunity to use your weapon against him. The second attack is a huge purple cube that will move around the room and take off serious amounts of life. I haven't found a very effective way to dodge this. Try dashing on the floor, climbing the wall, air-dashing, etc. in a circular pattern. Don't be afraid to use your Sub-tanks; this is the last time you'll need them. Eventually Sigma will fall. Enjoy the ending. ================== 10. Character Bios ================== Dynamo A mercenary hired by (a) certain person/people. He's irresponsible and moody of character, but his skills are better than A-1 class. He appears before X and the others to disrupt their strategy. Crescent Grizzly Enjoys fighting with the Drill Arm on which he prides himself, and does a trade in the spoils of his battles. Before, fighting strong enemies and winning their weapons from them is what made his life worth living, but these days, he busies himself fencing weaponry on the black market. He burrows anywhere he likes underground with his Drill Arm, while from his tremendous claws he fires his Crescent Shots, which can slice through just about anything. Bolt Kraken A former Irregular Hunter, he resigned after having doubts over the nature of his professional duties. Thereafter, he got a job researching energy engineering and now lives a tranquil life far from battle. His Tri Thunder is a super-electromagnetic energy shot from (an) experimental tentacle(s) boosted for combat use. Shining Firefly An authority on laser engineering. However, the results of his research remain mostly unseen, as he fears they would be used for weaponry. His Will Laser can remote-control firefly-shaped units, covering for Firefly's low mobility. Tidal Whale A Coast Guard Captain who also serves as director of a marine museum. Owing to his excessive sense of responsibility, there are times when he ignores all danger, and his quarrels with the Repli-Sea Force haven't ended. His Jel-Shaver runs along the surface of the ground with enough force to scrape off its top layer. Spiral Pegasus This young commander of the Repli-Air Force is brimming over with his sense of justice, but because of his youth, he also has too much enthusiasm and commits mistakes. He looked up to his colonel -who died in battle- as a mentor, and even now has not forgotten him. His Wing Spiral is a powerful whirlwind, instantly whisking what it touches up into the air. Spike Rose A rare sudden mutation repliroid, Rose was born of a fusion of a jungle nature control unit, a repliroid and the Sigma Virus. All too much about him is a mystery, such as the process of his mutations, on top of which his Irregular production rate is high, and there's a possibility he'll turn into a virus and become a new wonder. His Spike Rope is a knot of thorns with high attack power, a powerful weapon that inflicts repeated damage. Dark NecroBat An Irregular constructed three years ago, he saw a chance and escaped from Sigma. Afterward, no one could find where he'd gone, and even Sigma judged his fighting power to be no threat and forgot he'd left. His Dark Hold is a fearsome skill that stops time for a fixed period. Burn T-Rex A former member of the Repliforce Natural Disaster Response Team, his jurisdiction was Sunhouse Mountain, but he built his own hidden storehouse secretly within and concealed his use of magma energy to produce weapons. His Grand Fire is a wicked weapon that spits forth scorching flame which continues to burn even after it reaches the ground. Signas The previous Irregular Hunters' Inspector General resigned because he felt responsible for all the victims created as a result of judging Colonel's activities in the Repliforce War as Irregular. Signas is his hurriedly-picked replacement. Signas was initially one of hte latest Reploids designed for non- combat, and is equipped with the most precise CPU currently in existance. This lets him combine cool judgement with excellent thinking ability, and got him the Inspector General position without a record of actual achievements. Aeria A researcher in Reploid engineering. Her knowledge of Reploids is top class, and she can manufacture all types of Reploids and mechanoids. And since she possesses a high-speed processing CPU, she excels in instantly analyzing data and grasping situations, which got her pulled to act as a supporter for the Irregular Hunters. She analyzed the armor data abandoned by X and recreated it. However, since the original materials included things over a century old and unanalyzable data, the restoration isn't perfect. She's named it the "Fourth Armor" to signify that it was the fourth armor X acquired. Douglas The Irregular Hunters' resourceful mechanic. From the Hunter Base facilities, he handles the development and design of all mecha, including maintenance of large mecha like the Ride Armors and even the Irregular Hunters. However, the prolific number of unanalyzable black boxes for X and Zero give him a headache. Life-Saver A supporter who performs the maintenance of the Irregular Hunters. He repairs Hunters wounded on the scene, manufactures vaccine programs against the Sigma viruses, and so on. ================== 11. Secrets/Codes: ================== X's Ultimate Armor: While in the character select screen, make sure X is highlighted and press up twice, and then down nine times. X will start with his Ultimate Armor. Zero's Black Armor: While in the character select screen, make sure Zero is highlighted, and press down twice, and then up nine times. Zero will start with his Black Armor. ===================================================== 12. Rumors/Questions in Need of Confirmation/Answers: ===================================================== - What exactly triggers the obtaining of modules, and heart/weapon upgrades at the end of the stages? ======================== 13. New In This Version: ======================== - Completed the list of Modules - Edited the Rumors/Questions list - Added an Index ================= 14. Legal Jargon: ================= You know the drill. If you put this or any part of this walkthrough on your site without giving credit to the actual creator (i.e. me), you'll be in quite a bit of legal trouble. I don't mind you putting it on your website; just make sure it stays in due-credit form.